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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26190772">The Human Centipede</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Godspeed_Cowboy/pseuds/Godspeed_Cowboy'>Godspeed_Cowboy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BAMF Haruno Sakura, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Bugs &amp; Insects, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Chuunin Exams, Dark, Death, Forest of Death, Gen, Gore, Graphic Description, Haruno Sakura-centric, Horror, I read up on centipedes just for this fic, Infection, Injury, Killing, POV Haruno Sakura, Poison, Strong Haruno Sakura, Summoning, Summons, Training Ground 44, Transformation, Violence, centipedes, hey did you guys know that baby centipedes are called nymphs, insect summons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:07:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,888</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26190772</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Godspeed_Cowboy/pseuds/Godspeed_Cowboy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sakura stumbles upon a cabin in the Forest of Death, and inside she finds a dusty summoning scroll and something that guards it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>None</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>185</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Human Centipede</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey y'all! Please be really careful of the tags in this one because I really mean them with it! Enjoy! </p><p>Once again, I listened to the Japan Sinks 2020 OST. You can guess that until I state otherwise, I will most likely be listening to this as I write my next stories. Though, towards the arena match, I think Lil Darkie's AMV fits with the fight. But so does SparX Beats Higurashi trap remix.</p><p>Twitter: @YeehawMitski</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>	Sakura stumbles through the undergrowth, tears running down her face and mixing with snot and spit. Her sobs are loud, incredibly loud, but at the same time they feel like they’re becoming shorter and shorter with how much breath she’s losing. Her legs are aching, both of them cut, slashed through, and it’s one of the things that slow her the most.</p><p>	The Grass-nin that had attacked them had <em>not </em> been able to kill them, but what the Grass-nin <em>could </em> do was be able to seperate them. Thankfully, Naruto has dodged a hit, and was the one to get Sasuke away from the fight, but in the process he had to leave her behind. A painful decision for everyone but their attacker. Said attacker had noticed the opportunity, and had sent snakes after them to herd them further apart. </p><p>	Sakura has already outrun hers by now, but she did not leave it behind unscathed. The snake had been able to regurgitate weapons, and as such decided to play around with her before giving up. Her body is littered with wounds, but the biggest are the slashes on her legs. Five of them, deep cuts placed unevenly. The chakra exhaustion doesn’t help at all. She pants. </p><p>	She leans heavily against a tree, her breath coming out heavy. She doesn’t know if the snake is still following her to mess with her, but she doesn’t want to take any chances. But at the same time, if she doesn’t find a place to rest soon, she’ll be done for. Collapsing in the open in this place is like asking for a death sentence. </p><p>	Sakura pushes herself off the tree, heaving, and picks up her pace again. Her legs feel like jelly as they burn. </p><p>	Every step becomes harder, every minute, second, seems to drag on for too long. She keeps running, pumping her legs and her arms, and her lungs burn like hell but she pushes past. A mistake on her part, she knows that she’s past her limit already, way past it. Pushing it could end badly for her. But she doesn’t have any other options.</p><p>	So she pushes just a little harder, pushes to go faster, faster, faster still.</p><p>	And in the distance, she sees a wall and a window. Sakura stumbles, and yep, there.</p><p>	A cabin. A rundown one, but a cabin nonetheless.</p><p>	A place of respite. </p><p>	The cuts in her legs burn, unnaturally so.</p><p>	She has to run around the cabin for a moment before she finds the rickety porch leading to a bent door. She pushes herself to go fast, run up the stairs, and she’s lucky she did that because one falls as soon as her foot lifts.</p><p>	Sakura slams into the door and onto the dusty floor, nearly ripping it off the hinges.</p><p>	The wheeze that leaves her is loud, desperate, and she shakes. Then she forces herself up, because the door needs to be closed, or else someone could just waltz right in and all her effort would be for nothing. She locks it as best as she can, fingers shaking and struggling to use the rusty lock and knob. As soon as the door shuts, she collapses, and things go dark and cold.</p><p> </p><p>	When Sakura comes to, moonlight spills in from the holes in the rotting wood. She blinks, wearily, breath soft and quiet. Her eyes are sore, crusty, and she rubs at them whining, sitting up. Her head aches from her previous sob fest. Her legs still hurt, and this time there’s a sore, burning sensation in them, the blood finally drying and trying to scab over. She puts it off to look around. </p><p>	The whole place is run down. She’s sitting in a kitchen-living room area, the patterned wallpaper peeling and the floor broken in some places. To her left, a tattered couch with springs and stuffing poking out every which way and a split table in front of it, a broken tea set scattered. The paintings on the walls were tilted, dusty, and faded. To her right, a dining table, slumped over from missing two of its legs. The chairs around it are knocked over. The kitchen is a mess in general, cabinets wide open with the doors falling apart, some of the drawers on the floor, glass everywhere, and more. </p><p>	It’s all dirty, too. Makes her want to sneeze, but she’s worried about jolting her wounds.</p><p>	Carefully, she gets up, bracing herself on the wall. The wood beneath her hands creaks dangerously, so she goes slower.</p><p>	She needs to look for food, so the kitchen is obviously the first choice.</p><p>	Carefully, she steps over debris, and looks through the cabinets.</p><p>	All but one are empty, and it ends up being a dead rat that’s rotting away. Sakura screams a little, and shuts the door fast while holding her nose, the scent one of the most unpleasant things she’d had the pleasure of smelling. She almost throws up at it.</p><p>	So no food in the kitchen. Time to check out the living room.</p><p>	Still nothing. She huffs. </p><p>	There’s a hallway, leading down the next rooms, so she walks carefully over, mindful of the floor’s weak spots. The first room she opens is a small, compact bathroom. The toilet is broken, the sink is on it’s side, there’s dirt in the bathtub, and the faucets and drains look rusty and sharp.</p><p>	She moves on, and doesn’t even want to know what’s in the closet.</p><p>	The next room is a bedroom, possibly a guest one. It looks fairly decent compared to the place, but it’s still run down and in need of fixing. The window is broken, same goes for the bedframe, and the armoire and bedside tables look like they’d fall apart at the touch of her fingers. Carefully, she closes the door. She could sleep there later. </p><p>	There’s a door at the very end of the hallway. It looks far more intact than the rest of the home, and it makes her a little suspicious. She pushes the door open, and it opens far too smoothly.</p><p>	It’s a master bedroom. It's the most cleanest, stable looking room in the entire cabin.</p><p>	In the corner, a large scroll. It makes her curious.</p><p>	And in the center of the room . . .</p><p>	A curled up, dark mass. Something rises from it, slowly, a head, all the way to the roof.</p><p>	Large black eyes stare into hers.</p><p>	A giant centipede, black with brown stripes, that clicks it’s forcipules and jaws at her, audible enough to echo in the room.</p><p>	Sakura makes a small, terrified sound in the back of her throat and passes out, her head hitting the doorframe with a thunk.</p><p> </p><p>	The next time Sakura wakes up, she’s on a very soft surface, and her head hurts. She assesses herself first. Her chakra levels are about halfway full, so that’s good. But her legs still hurt and now her head does as well. </p><p>	She blinks her eyes open, squinting, propping herself up on her elbows.</p><p>	At the end of the bed she’s on, the giant centipede from earlier stares back. She pales.</p><p>	And then the strangest thing happens.</p><p>	It speaks.</p><p>	“Ah,” comes the low drawl, deep yet most certainly a woman, “so the sleeping beauty finally wakes. Not gonna pass out on me again, are you?”</p><p>	Sakura blinks, and opens her mouth to speak.</p><p>	“Uh,” is the only word that comes out of her mouth. </p><p>	The centipede laughs at her.</p><p>	“What’s the matter? Never heard a <em>summon </em> speak before?”</p><p>	“. . . <em>Summon</em>?”</p><p>	“You heard me right, kid. Summon. I’m just one of the few that’s hardly ever mentioned.”</p><p>	A summon? Sakura had never heard of centipede summons before, but she supposes you don’t hear much about the less common or well known ones, much like the centipede said.</p><p>	“So, moving past that,” the centipede says, “sorry about startling you earlier. Didn’t mean to make you pass out like that. Just wanted to see who was coming into my oh so humble abode. As an apology, I’ve taken care of your injuries as best as I can. You might want to get the cuts on your legs checked out when you leave. I may have good medical knowledge, but I certainly don’t have the supplies to take care of you. You’re lucky I was able to find water and bandages.”</p><p>	Sure enough, Sakura looks down, and she’s covered in bandages like a mummy and any bare skin is free of rust color.</p><p>	“Oh,” she gasps, “thank you!”</p><p>	“No problem.” the centipede moves over to the side of the bed, closer, and Sakura feels really bad for tensing up but the centipede doesn’t say anything about it, “Now, what’s your name, kid? I’d like to know who I’m going to be playing nurse with here for the next few days.”</p><p>	“H-Haruno Sakura, ma’am.”</p><p>	“Well, Miss Sakura, my name Nao, and I’ll be your hostess for today! So tell me, how’re you feeling? Anything hurt?”</p><p>	Nao pokes at her side with one of her legs, and Sakura giggles a little at the ticklish sensation.</p><p>	“Um, I think I’m pretty good. It just hurts to move, that's all.”</p><p>	“Hm. Think you can walk?”</p><p>	“Yeah, probably.”</p><p>	“Well, that’s good. Lie back down please, I need to take care of your bandages.”</p><p>	Sakura does as told, even if she’s a little nervous, allowing such a creature to come close. </p><p>	She watches as Nao takes the bandages off, watches how her appendages move to pull them apart. Sometimes, the tips touch her skin, and it makes her twitch. It’s fascinating, in an odd sort of way, how they move in tandem.</p><p>	It’s just as interesting to see her put the new bandages on, and the sensation of them actually touching her skin was weird. They were hard, like shells or plastic, and they felt cool and smooth. </p><p>	Nao sets her down with care. </p><p>	“There we go! All done!”</p><p>	“Um, thank you.”</p><p>	Nao moves away, and simply does small things around the room, picking up clutter, observing things, making sure it’s clean, before she curls back up in the center of the room.</p><p>	Sakura really wants to ask questions, that little part in the back of her mind begging to know new things, but she doesn’t say anything. She just stares really hard from where her head’s propped up on the pillow, brows furrowed. Nao opens an eye to look at her.</p><p>“Something you need, Sakura-san?”</p><p>She bites her lip, “. . . Uh, can I . . . Can I ask you some questions? If you don’t mind?”</p><p>Nao wiggles her antennas at her, “Sure. Ask away.”</p><p>“How can you see?”</p><p>“What do you mean by that?”</p><p>“Like,” Sakura lifts her hands, palms up, and flops them back down, “I read somewhere once that centipedes don’t have good eyesight. But you move like you have twenty twenty vision. How?”</p><p>“Hm. Well, simple really. I use chakra.”</p><p>That intrigues her. She leans up and forward as far as she can under Nao’s gaze.</p><p>“And how do you do <em>that</em>? How do you use that chakra?”</p><p>“Do you know how Hyuuga chanel chakra to use their Dojutsu?”</p><p>Sakura nods.</p><p>“Well, it’s kind of like that. The only difference is that it’s like wearing glasses for me.”</p><p>“Oooh. I see.”</p><p>“No, I see, I’m the one with chakra glasses.”</p><p>Sakura snorts at the joke, falling backwards. </p><p>She is still a little scared of Nao, but not as much as before.</p><p>“Can I ask another question?”</p><p>“Mhm.”</p><p>“Your legs, how do they work like that? How are you so aware of them, of all of them? Are they easy to control? Do you know what’s under the shell? What’s the shell made of?”</p><p>“Take it easy, Sakura-san! One question at a time, <em>please</em>.”</p><p>“Ah . . . sorry,” she says, sheepish, embarrassed.</p><p>They go back and forth for a while, Sakura asking questions and Nao answering with everything she knows. Sakura absorbs the new information about centipedes like a dried out sponge in water. Nao is amused by this, much to Sakura’s dismay.</p><p>And then at one point it’s Nao asking the questions. Where does she come from? The civilian district of Konoha. What was her job? Shinobi, currently a genin. Did she have a team? yes, and she tells every detail she knows about them. Why was she here? To pass the chuunin exams, though unfortunately she’d been delayed, and she told Nao about the Grass-nin with snake summons who separated her from her other two teammates and sent the serpents after them. Nao’s antennas straighten and her forcipuls pinch closer together.</p><p>“Snake summoners . . . always those assholes.”</p><p>Sakura does not try to inquire what she means by that.</p><p>Eventually she grows tired, and Nao sees it.</p><p>“Go to sleep, Sakura-san. You’ll certainly need it.”</p><p>So she does, she passes out and soon enough, she starts to snore. Nao looks at her, contemplating, and comes to a decision that night. She made a good choice and she feels it under her exoskeleton.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura wakes up in pain, her legs throbbing, and her yell startles Nao awake. Tears pour down her face as Nao scuttles quickly over.</p><p>“Sakura-san! Sakura-san! What’s wrong!?”</p><p>“M-My legs! My legs!” she gets out, and then another flash of pain, bright. She yells again.</p><p>Nao undoes the bandages with lighting speed, and Sakura does not like the gasp that leaves her.</p><p>“Oh no, oh no.”</p><p>“What? W-What? Let me-Let me see-!”</p><p>“Sakura-san, please don’t, you really don’t want to-!”</p><p>Too late. Sakura forces herself up on her hands and she looks down at her legs. The blood drains from her face so fast that she becomes lightheaded.</p><p>Below the knees, her legs are ugly shades of black and purple, holes in them that are growing at a steady pace. She can see bone and veins, and nearly she vomits.</p><p>“ . . . What’s happening to me. Nao-san, what’s happening to me!?”</p><p>She grabs at the centipede's legs, and Nao lets her, her fingers curling around them. Sakura does not like the grim energy that radiates from the summon.</p><p>“Sakura, answer me quickly. Did the snake that chased you bite you?”</p><p>“No-no, but it-it could throw up weapons from it’s m-mouth-”</p><p>Nao hisses. And then she goes oddly calm.</p><p>“Sakura,” she says, dropping the honorific, “ it appears you’ve been poisoned by one of Manda’s children directly . . . You could die from this.”</p><p>It’s Sakura’s turn to gasp, and she squeezes the leg in her hand, a whine leaving her as another flash of pain travels up her leg.</p><p>“There are two ways I can save you,” Nao continues, “the first way is amputation. But we don’t have any saws and anything sharp around here is sure to cause infection.”
</p><p>Nao looks into her eyes when she speaks again.</p><p>“The second option is something I was going to ask you today. I was hoping for a better time, but it seems neither of us have a choice.”</p><p>“Haruno Sakura, will you do me the honor of signing the summoning contract with the centipedes, and become the first centipede summoner in over three hundred years?”</p><p>Sakura stills. Thinks. Looks at her legs, remembers how she’d been during the fight, the chase. She looks back at Nao, who now seems to have a pleading look in her eyes.</p><p>“ . . . Yes. I accept. I’ll sign it, I’ll sign the contract!”</p><p>Nao practically launches herself at the large, dusty scroll in the corner, dragging it over with ferocity. It’s practically thrown into her lap as it unravels.</p><p>Two faded names stare up at her, one almost completely gone. Nao starts speaking again.</p><p>“Now I will warn you, this will be no ordinary contract. Over the next three days, your body will transform, become something new, a mix of human and insect to help you better connect with your summons, a bond forged through hard work, through experience. It will be painful, incredibly so, and you will have new urges, but it is a mear passing period. Once over, you will return to your old form- lift your hand please,” Sakura lifts the hand closest, and Nao bites it so she can sign, “-but there will be an advantage. You’ll be able to switch forms at will, should you choose, whatever form is more comfortable for you.”</p><p>Sakura nods, “O-okay, okay. Got it.”</p><p>Another surge of pain and Sakura grits her teeth, a strained sound coming from her throat. It’s enough to make her curl over. She slams her free hand into the bleeding one, and scrawls her name onto the contract, the desperation clear in the writing. Then she smacks both hands down on it, creating handprints like she sees on the last two names.</p><p>“Congratulations, Haruno Sakura,” Nao says, relieved, “you are now the first, and <em>only</em>, centipede summoner, among your generation. The third one in three hundred years.”</p><p>Sakura feels woozy suddenly, and she sits up, and falls backwards quickly, the transformation already beginning.</p><p>Inside, a small part of her preens, proud, happy. To think she’s now a summoner, and all it took was almost dying and thinking about her weaknesses mere minutes before her death.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura sleeps through the first day, and Nao is thankful for this as she removes her clothes to fold them and put them away for when Sakura returns. Her new form will not fit these very soon.</p><p> </p><p>Sakura has the unfortunate pleasure of waking up on the second day, and Nao is not around when it happens, busy in the summoning lands, meeting with other summons and their rulers to tell them about the new nymph under her and her fellow insects’ tutelage.</p><p>	Sakura can’t open her mouth, her jaw stiff, locked in place as her canine teeth wiggle just a bit. Her breathing accelerates. She feels a thick coat of slime covering her body, like she’s been stuck in a tub of melted vaseline. She feels disproportionate, as though everything about her has been resized. And she is in <em>pain</em>. </p><p>	She lifts her head to look down and if she could scream, she would. But as it is, all she can do is let her heartbeat quicken at the sight of things.</p><p>	Below her waist, past her hips, her legs are no more. Instead, they’re melted together, becoming one. They’re longer, long enough to where they fall over the edge of the bed, she can’t see where they end, and there're too many joints in them, as though she has two rows of twenty knees. Sticking out of the sides, nubs of flesh, reddened.</p><p>	And sticking out from her torso, two on each side, it seems more like she has tubes of flesh, like dough rolled long. She tries something then. And it works. The tubes move where they connect to her body, up and down, and the rest is merely dragged along like ropes. It hurts her to do so, so she stops. She looks back down at where her legs once were, the uncomfortable sensation feeling like they were merely pressed together too hard with glue.</p><p>	She tries to move them, <em>it</em>, the long stretch of bone and flesh and nubs, and it’s much harder to do, and it hurts even more. But it moves. Her hips slide slowly to the right, and the new limb slides with it like a snake. Her hips slide left, and it slides again. Then she tries to lift the point. </p><p>	The limb is much longer than she expected, but the tip comes up after pulling it from it’s tangled pile on the floor. It looks grotesque, bleeding puss and purple from it’s tip, and this time it really does look like dough, like an opening pinched together. </p><p>	Sakura passes out, the pain too much, and the tail drops to the floor with a loud thud, the wood almost breaking with its weight.</p><p> </p><p>	The third day is the day when the transformation is complete. Nao waits patiently for Sakura to wake up. And she does, slowly.</p><p>	Sakura blinks open her eyes and everything is blurry. Really blurry. And the bed feels sticky and crusty. She makes a sound, low in her throat, confused and slowly becoming panicked.</p><p>	Nao’s voice stops her from flipping her lid.</p><p>	“Good morning, sleeping beauty. Have a good rest, did you?”</p><p>	Sakura groans, “I can’t . . . see.”</p><p>	And wow, her voice sounds different. It is still childish, no doubt, still the voice of an eleven year old, but it is gruff and her throat hurts. And her mouth feels weird, heavier somehow.</p><p>	“Don’t worry, Sakura, that is natural for our kind. Do you remember what I told you about channeling chakra to the eyes to see?”</p><p>	“M’yeah.”</p><p>	“Can you try doing that for me? It should be easier to do now, your chakra pathways will have changed and the ones if your head should be bigger. Your stores should have also grown with them, so no need to worry about using too much.”</p><p>	“Ok, hol’ on.”</p><p>	She tries to do as Nao said, and surprisingly it does work. But her chakra feels . . . different. It feels like her natures are stronger, more easily identifiable. And when it hits her eyes, it eases the ache as things begin to clear up rapidly. Oh wow, that felt really nice. Like, <em>really </em>nice. It makes her sigh, relaxed.</p><p>	Sakura blinks once, twice, and Nao is there, above her. </p><p>	She gets the impression that the insect is smiling at her.</p><p>	“Well, your transformation turned out well. Do you want to see yourself?”</p><p>	She hesitates, then nods, and sits up. And then sees a hand. And another. And another. she looks down.</p><p>	On her torso, two on each side, four brand new arms stick out. She gasps.</p><p>	“Over here, I brought a mirror in.”</p><p>	Sakura tries to get out of bed. And promptly falls on her face from a lack of limb awareness. She uses her first set of arms to push up, the other for laying limp. and turns her head. </p><p>	From the waist down, a long segmented tail with legs sticking out of each side, white with shades of brown decorating her shell armour in dots and lines.</p><p>	The armour of her shell goes a bit longer, though, stopping at mid back, it seems. She turns back around and looks down.</p><p>	Her stomach no longer has a belly button or hair, replaced with a smooth expanse of white, and it fades into her chest. Her breasts are gone and so are the nipples, a flat plane of skin with no sign of them ever being there.</p><p>	Sakura looks at Nao. Nao jerks her head to the side, at the long mirror there.</p><p>	Carefully, she maneuvers, getting a feel for her new body. </p><p>	It turns out she can stand, sort of. Her top half rises to be vertical one more, like when she was fully human, and kind of like Nao when she does this. The legs stop above her hips, and a good few of them fold in on themself like she’s trying to do raptor hands with them as they hang in the air. She stretches them out, fascinated by how much control she has over them. Nao laughs at her wonder.</p><p>	Carefully, she walks over to the mirror, her many new legs only crossing each other a few times before she reaches it.</p><p>	What she sees makes her gasp. </p><p>	First thing, her body as a whole. It was bigger, denser looking, covered in thick corded muscle. She was sure that if she tried to fit into her old clothes, they’d be skin tight. But she was still smaller than Nao. And her hair, it was shorter, choppy, stopping at the middle of her neck.</p><p>	“Sorry about that, I had to cut it so that it wouldn’t tangle with your mouth.”</p><p>Then, her eyes. They were bigger, and they were black everywhere except for the outedges, thin lines of green. Her mouth was bigger too, able to open wider, and her canines became long, clear hooks that she’s very much able to wiggle in any direction. Four forcipules. From her forehead, two long dark stubs for antennas, ones that she can also move, though only slightly.</p><p>	“Those will grow with age and experience,” Nao says, when she sees Sakura running her hands over them gently.</p><p>	The next thing is her shoulders. Covered with the same armour on her tail. Then arms, and the armour once again there, this time on the outsides of them, the sides closest to her body bare and pink like a newborn. Then her hands. The fingers are longer, clawed and yellow.</p><p>	She turns around to see her back, and gasps.</p><p>	Across the expanse of it, dark swirling tattoos.</p><p>	“Those will grow as well, and they will become your Sage Markings should you choose to train with us in our sacred lands.”</p><p>	“Sage Markings? I can get those?”</p><p>	“If you come train with us, yes.”</p><p>	“Wow . . .”</p><p>	“Mhm. Now come along. We wouldn’t want to miss the Chuunin exams.”</p><p>	This time, Sakura gasps in horror. She forgot completely about those! And then she stops.</p><p>	“Wait! Are-Are you sure I can show up? Like this?”</p><p>	“Oh, I’m quite sure alright. I’ll come with you, so no need to worry about explaining your situation to anyone. First things first, breakfast! I’m sure you’re hungry, they always are after transformation, so we can eat a little something before heading to the Tower.”</p><p>	She is still unsure, but she follows anyway, because Nao is technically her new teacher for this whole thing. She’s getting the hang of her new legs though, but she hasn’t begun to crawl around on all limbs like Nao. A good strategy when walking like this is leaning forward, it helps keep her balanced without looking awkward about it. </p><p>	Nao takes her out of the cabin, and the first thing that hits her is all the new smells, suddenly so intense. Probably from the antennas on her head, Nao had told her they use them as sensory organs when they can’t use their eyes. Said centipede cummon climbs up a tree. She tries to follow, but stops at the base, doubtful and wondering how she’ll get up there. Nao stops, turns to look down.</p><p>	“Don’t worry, you can climb as well, Sakura. Your legs can secrete a solution from the tips to help you up. And if I’m correct, your hands can as well.”</p><p>	Sakura tentatively places all six hands onto the tree trunk, still a little unused to having this many limbs to control. She concentrates, tries to imagine something coming out, her face scrunching up. Sure enough, it’s like a syrup coating on her palms and fingers. She cheers.</p><p>	She’s always prided herself on being a fast learner.</p><p>	The rest comes easy, and sure enough, she’s using all of her limbs to follow Nao up the tree. The bark smells wonderful, she thinks. She never knew a forest like this could smell so sweet.</p><p>	Nao stops on a branch full of red fruits, and she plucks one off with her forcipules, tossing it to her.</p><p>	She catches it  with little fumbling, thankfully, and Sakura realizes it’s a pomegranate. </p><p>	“We’ll start off with fruits. I don’t want you diving headfirst into fresh kill just yet.”</p><p>	Oh, how comforting.</p><p>	Sakura decides to test her new forcipules out. She opens wide, pierces the fruit, and it’s very juicy, and much sweeter than she remembers.</p><p>	She ends up eating the entire thing quickly, and her hands and mouth are stained pink and she’s still hungry. Nao laughs at her for the nth time today, and tosses her another that she eats just as fast.</p><p>	After five whole pomegranates, two more than what Nao ate, she finally feels full. She pats a hand over the white skin, and marvels at how smooth it feels.</p><p>	“Now that we’ve eaten, we can head to the Tower, the matches will start soon and we don’t have all day.”</p><p>	After cleaning up in a nearby river, the pace that Nao picks for them is fast and Sakura almost falls several times and has to resort to using every limb again, but she’s getting used to running she supposes.</p><p>	The Tower is like a beacon for them when they finally see it. Nao comes to a slow stop at one of the entrances and Sakura stops just behind, sitting up again, and this time Nao follows her lead. The summon is oddly quiet.</p><p>	“ . . . I know you’re there, masked ones. Reveal yourselves to me.”</p><p>	Sure enough, three ANBU shake into existence, and Sakura squeaks, making a poor attempt to hide behind Nao.</p><p>	The one leading the trio speaks first.</p><p>	“State your identities.”</p><p>	Nao sighs, and straightens up and Sakura thinks she looks absolutely regal then.</p><p>	“I am Nao of the Centipedes, Mother to all multi-legged, and the Empress of the Hollow Mouth Caves of the Far Lands.”</p><p>	The ANBU visibly flinch and they all bow to her.</p><p>	“Nao-sama,” says the leader, “forgive us to our rude behavior. We did not know a Noble Summons Leader was present and we take full responsibility for our actions.”</p><p>	<em>Noble</em>? What?</p><p>	Nao flicks one antenna at them, “Stand tall, soldiers, no need for this behavior. I have come here with the intentions of allowing my new Summoner to pass her Chuunin Exams.”</p><p>	Again they startle, and all eyes land on here. Slowly, she comes out from hiding and they turn to each other, speaking in hand signals. </p><p>	The leader turns to her.</p><p>	“State your identity,” they say.</p><p>	She tries to stand tall like Nao and she’s proud to say that her voice stays steady when she speaks.</p><p>	“Haruno Sakura.”</p><p>	The three ANBU sign again, this time more furiously, aggressive with them to show frustration and anger.</p><p>	Nao coughs and the ANBU stop signing immediately. They regard the centipede with rapt attention.</p><p>	“I would like a word with your Hokage and my student’s Shinobi team.”</p><p>	“The matches have already started, three have gone by already.”</p><p>	“That does not matter to me. Lead the way.”</p><p>	Silence. And then the ANBU comply. Nao sends her a smug look, her forcipules clicking together.</p><p>	They follow the three down a hall, to wide doors that open up to an arena. The ANBU step in first, just as the draw board lands on two names. Nao leans in and whispers.</p><p>	“Wait here.”</p><p>	Sakura hides behind one of the doors, grateful they only opened one. Her eyes are on the board.</p><p>	<em>Haruno Sakura VS Kin</em>.</p><p>	There’s a <em>look </em> on everyone’s face when they read her name. They don’t notice the three ANBU or the giant centipede until the leader announces their presence.</p><p>	“Hokage-sama,” they say, bowing, “Nao-sama wishes to have a word with you. Now. And with Hatake’s team.”</p><p>	Sakura looks for her team then, wildly, and is happy to see them unharmed. But they look startled. <em>Everyone </em>looks startled. Even the <em>Hokage</em>.</p><p>	“Ah, Nao-sama,” he says, his voice old and croaky like an old man's voice should be, “I’ve heard much about you.”</p><p>	“I’ve heard much about you as well, Sarutobi-sama. Enma is a chatterbox, as you know.”</p><p>	That makes the Hokage chuckle. Sakura’s team is now standing with him, unsure.</p><p>	“Hm, yes, yes,” he takes a puff from his pipe, “now, what can us four do for you, Nao-sama?”</p><p>	“I have come to return someone that belongs here and to introduce them to you four.”</p><p>	“Oh? Who?”</p><p>	Nao turns around, and calls out to her, “You may come out now.”</p><p>	Slowly, she walks forward, all six hands fidgeting with each other. She has to duck to get under the door frame. Her body emerges from the shadows and she keeps walking forward until she stands next to Nao.</p><p>	Everyone is staring with wonder, curiosity, fear, horror, a mix of many things.</p><p>	There’s a smile in Nao’s voice when she speaks again.</p><p>	“Sarutobi-Sama, Hatake-san, Uzumaki-san, and Uchiha-san . . . I would like you to meet my new student <em>and </em> my new summoner,” she moves out of the way and allows Sakura to have the center stage.</p><p>	“<em>Haruno Sakura</em>.”</p><p>	The pipe in the Hokages’s hand falls to the ground with a clatter. Everybody’s jaws drop. She raises her head to look at the main four in the eyes.</p><p>	“Hello, Hokage-sama,” her voice is softer when she refers to her team, “Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Sasuke.”</p><p>	The Hokage coughs, “Well. This is . . . unexpected. But nonetheless, the match will continue, I suppose?”</p><p>	Nao gives him a nod, the go ahead. The arena is cleared of her teammates and new teacher, Nao curled on the railing and whispering to her boys.</p><p>	Kin steps down into the Arena and looks at her like she’s a monster.</p><p>	The procter coughs at her, “You’ll fight until either one of you forfeits, is knocked out, or killed.”</p><p>	Sakura nods. She and Kin take their places across from each other. Kin’s sneer never leaves her face. And something in Sakura switches, instincts finally settling into her skin. Kin is suspicious, and the more insect part of her recognizes this, and her human part agrees. </p><p>This must be the urges that Nao told her about. Looks like it’s more than just an “urge”. </p><p>It’ll be a life saver for her.</p><p>	She lets the wilder part take over, already knowing what path she’ll take for this fight.</p><p>	The procter brings his hand down, “Begin!”</p><p>	She falls into a stance, her tail snaking into and S as her top half crouches, hands braced outwards. Kin laughs at her, with the intent to mock and irritate. It does not earn any insult, but rather she bares her teeth, the forcipules slowly stretching out, and a low hiss leaves her mouth. Kin stops laughing and makes a disgusted sound at the drool that slips down her chin.</p><p>	Nao stops whispering, watches the fight with intense focus. Her team follows suit.</p><p>	“Well? You gonna move or something?” Kin asks.</p><p>	Sakura’s only response is a slight shift backwards.</p><p>	Kin rolls her eyes. She does not recognize the warning signs that Sakura displays clear as day.</p><p>	“Well, damn, fine, you fuckin’ <em>freak</em>. Spent so much time around <em>monsters </em> you forgot how to act <em>and </em> look, I see. I guess I’ll-”</p><p>	Sakura moves fast, running around her, wrapping her tail around her body tightly. Before Kin can even get a scream out, Sakura’s forcipules find their way into the other girl's neck. </p><p>	The poison she injects acts faster than Manda’s and it’s properties are even worse. </p><p>	Kin’s scream dies in her throat as her body deteriorates at an inhumane rate. Sakura watches with hardened eyes as the girl melts, flesh turning to sludge and revealing the bone underneath, which collapses in on itself.</p><p>	All that’s left of her is a puddle and her clothes.</p><p>	Blood, bright and fresh, drips down Sakura’s chin.</p><p>	She turns to look at Nao and the centipede gives her a nod of approval, though slight disappointment because she had told Sakura to wait for fresh kill, after all. Everyone else stares at her, terrified where they stand. </p><p>	Her instincts melt away and mold with her human part and insect part, acting as a glue to keep them close but not quite molded together, not yet.</p><p>	Sakura swallows the blood in her mouth and smiles, showing off her newly stained teeth as she revels in the feeling of her first kill.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Centipede Sage Sakura, Centipede Sage Sakura-</p></blockquote></div></div>
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